Ireland – the Seanad Says ‘no!’ to CETA

It’s not all bad news on CETA from Ireland of course; our Seanad, behind a motion proposed by Alice Mary Higgins (daughter of President Michael D) and backed by such as the outstanding Grace O’Sullivan of the Green Party, was actually the first national parliament body to reject the deal. What remains now is for the Dáil to do the same, to lift the ‘jobs, jobs, jobs’ blinkers and ask the most relevant questions, questions I heard a lawyer and former German MP ask at a CETA forum in the Parliament last week, questions like:

Why do these global corporations and international investors want this new level of legislation?

Give one instance in the EU where a Canadian investor has ever been denied justice by a European Court?

If the national and EU court system is good enough for European citizens, why is it not good enough for everyone else?

Why should global corporations and ‘investors’ have ANY say in local, national, or EU-wide legislation?

Why should we accept even the possibility that lower standards in other jurisdictions can be introduced to the EU by the back-door?